Chapter 30 Chapter Four

The winter evening in the north is already dark.Mr. Di's official sedan chair left the state government office and walked slowly towards Zhu Dayuan's mansion.At the same time, Qiao Tai and Ma Rong split up to invite the master Lan Dakui to the banquet together.The two of them have recently worshiped Lan Dakui as their teacher, and are earnestly learning wrestling and boxing.Lan Dakui also attaches great importance to them, so they have become close friends. Sitting in the sedan chair, Di Gong said to Hong Canjun, "Taiyuan is a disturbing news. My mother-in-law is suffering from a sudden illness. She is an old man in her seventies. Madam is worried about it. She will leave for Taiyuan tomorrow, and I will let you The second wife and the third wife also took the opportunity to go back to Taiyuan to visit relatives. I can also live in the yamen's house and focus on the current case. It just happens to be this banquet tonight. Zhu Dayuan kindly invites me, and I have already agreed. If you don't keep your promises, you will laugh at the people of the state."

Hong Canjun said: "In the past, I saw that Qiao Tai, Ma Rong and Zhu Dayuan had a close relationship. When there was nothing to do in the Yamen, they often invited them to go hunting in the village and mountains, or go to his mansion for a drink. Zhu Dayuan is generous and generous, and he doesn't care about trivial matters. , and the two of them are the most speculative. I heard that although he has an eighth wife, he has not yet given birth to a child, and this is indeed a heartache for Zhu Yuanwai." After listening to Di Gong, he was speechless for a long time.He opened the sedan chair curtain and looked outside, and saw a white sheet of snow on the Drum Tower in the distance, and a dark and towering silhouette under the dense clouds.

"Zhu Dayuan's mansion will arrive soon." Di Gong said. The official sedan chair stopped in front of a carved brick gatehouse with heavy eaves. Under the gatehouse, four bright red lanterns were prominent and bright, and a row of servants stood by the gate.The yamen servant opened the sedan chair curtain to let Di Gong and Hong Liang get off the sedan chair.Tao Gan also followed on horseback.Zhu Dayuan was waiting in front of the gatehouse in full costume.Di Gong saw that Zhu Dayuan was wearing a wolf fur cloak and a sable fur cap. Zhu Dayuan bowed and respectfully greeted Di Gong, and Di Gong bowed his body to show his return.Zhu Dayuan held a lamp in person to guide Di Gong and his party, while Zhu Dayuan's friend Liao Wenfu and Zhu's steward Yu Kang stood behind the screen wall to welcome them.

Seeing these two people, Di Gong couldn't help being slightly startled.He had already heard that Yu Kang was Liao Lianfang's fiancé.Could it be that the son-in-law and the son-in-law urged the yamen to find someone as soon as possible during the banquet tonight, thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Zhu Dayuan led them to an open-air bluestone platform.The platform was surrounded by felt curtains, and dozens of torches were lit, shining like daylight.Four tables were set up on the platform.The four tables are separated by the same distance, forming a square with a huge brazier in the center.The charcoal fire was raging in the brazier, and the iron hooks hanging from the iron frame above were smoking wild boar, roe deer, hare and goat. The fat dripped into the brazier, making a "hissing" sound from time to time.There are iron forks, iron picks and sharp knives under the iron shelf.

Many guests had already been seated on the four tables, but the cups and chopsticks had not been touched yet.As soon as Mr. Di stepped onto the platform, the guests at the four tables hurriedly stood up and paid respects to Mr. Di.Steaming dishes began to be brought to the table one by one from the kitchen in the backyard. Zhu Dayuan said with a smile: "Master Di is laughing. The people in the countryside of Beibei don't have much to entertain the master. Tonight, prepare this delicious food and wine to express the respect of the common people. I hope that the master and all the gentlemen in the street will show their respect."

Zhu Dayuan made Duke Di the chief, and he and Liao Wenfu sat on the left and right sides of Duke Di.Others also waited to take their seats.After a chatter, everyone was pouring wine and waiting for the cups and chopsticks to be served. Qiao Tai and Ma Rong came to the table with Lan Dakui in their arms.There was a burst of applause at the banquet, Ma Rong and Qiao Tai sat down at the table behind Duke Di, and Lan Dakui sat at the table to the left of Duke Di, next to Hong Liang and Tao Gan. When Duke Di saw Lan Dakui for the first time, he couldn't help applauding, and believed in Qiaotai first.Ma Rong's eyesight.Lan Dakui is majestic in talent, handsome in style, and indeed extraordinary in appearance.With a bare head and no hair, the muscles on the arms and legs protrude one by one, with a pair of big eyes under the thick eyebrows, just like a mighty god.According to Qiao Tai and Ma Rong, he has not married a wife yet, but he is not close to women, and lives a very restrained life, devoting all his energy to boxing and fighting.The professors and apprentices also follow the principle of sincerity, but for self-defense and fitness, they are not allowed to use their strength to do evil, and they are not allowed to abuse the weak for the rich and powerful.Di Gong showed a satisfied smile on his face. He was very happy that Qiao Tai and Ma Rong could make friends like Zhu Dayuan and Lan Dakui in such a short period of time.In fact, it was crucial to his governance of a state.

Zhu Dayuan offered Di Gong a glass of wine first.As soon as Di Gong tasted it, tears rolled out of his eyes immediately; he tried to hold it back, and returned a glass to the host with a smile on his face.Zhu Dayuan raised his neck and gulped it down without changing his face.Duke Dee saw that he was wearing a pair of white gloves. Zhu Dayuan said: "Master Di, I heard that there was a murder case in Nancheng, where a woman was killed. For this reason, my friend Mr. Liao Wenfu was deeply disturbed, and worried that his daughter would also run into the gangster and have an accident. Master must think about it quickly anyway. Find a way to find Ms. Liao. This is not only for my friend Mr. Liao, but also for my loyal steward Yu Kang. Master, you know that Ms. Liao has already been betrothed to Yu Kang, and now she suddenly disappeared, which made this young man All day long, the mind is turned upside down, and the heart has no soul."

Di Gong expected that the host had something to say, so he had already made a draft in his stomach, and said something that the yamen was working hard on the occasion. Although the weather was extremely cold, the banquet was full of heat and laughter.Di Gong felt that the strong smell of earthy wine and garlic around him made him sick, his stomach was churning, and his intestines screamed.He was also afraid that Liao Wenfu and Yu Kang would come and pester him again, so he told him to go to the toilet. A servant held a lantern and led Di Gong through the winding corridors to a small courtyard, behind which was the latrine.Di Gong went into the latrine and told the servants to go by himself, saying that he wanted to take a breather in the yard when he was done, and then slowly returned to the banquet.

After finishing his work, Mr. Di left the latrine, took advantage of the moonlight to grope around the small courtyard, and walked back along the corridor he had come in.Suddenly he saw a round door ahead.Strolling out of the round gate, I saw a garden surrounded by a row of wooden fences; the tall trees in front of the wooden fence were bent down by the heavy snow. —He didn't pass through this garden when he came, and he knew that he had gone the wrong way.The moonlight was bright and clear, so he simply walked slowly by himself, taking the time to relieve the fishy smell in his throat.

At this time, a cold wind blew and the trees in the garden rustled, and Duke Dee felt an inexplicable terror.He heard ghostly cries that seemed to be "woo woo" in the wind, and his nose seemed to smell blood.He suddenly saw a big snowman piled up in the corner of the garden, resembling a monk sitting there with his legs crossed in meditation.The snowman's eyes were not plugged with charcoal, and the two empty holes looked at Di Gonggong with a silly grin. Di Gong felt uneasy for a while, only felt drowsy and in a trance, he suspected that he was sick, or his stomach was ruined by strong local wine.He staggered along the original path and groped his way back to the banquet. Just as he turned to the end of the corridor, he saw a servant looking for the corridor with a lantern.

The servant helped Di Gong to go up the platform again, Zhu Dayuan hurriedly asked after seeing this, "Master, why is your face so ugly?" "Probably because of a cold, it's nothing serious. Oh, that snowman in your back garden, Mr. Zhu, scared me into a cold sweat." Zhu Dayuan laughed loudly, and said: "That snowman is the butt butt I practice shooting. I don't know how many arrows I have to eat in a day, but the master is scared by it? Come, I will toast you a glass of wine to warm your body and drive away the cold. Just break out in a hot sweat." While talking, a servant led the Yali inspector to meet Di Gong at the banquet.Seeing Mr. Di, the inspector hurriedly kowtowed and said: "The inspectors caught Pan Feng on the way from Zhoucheng to Shanyang Town, and now he has been escorted back to Yali prison for imprisonment." Di Gong was overjoyed, turned his head and said to Zhu Dayuan: "I'm sorry, I have to go back to the yamen to inquire about this matter. You gentlemen must have fun." Then he motioned Hong Liang to follow him back to the yamen. ——Tao Gan, Qiao Tai, and Ma Rongzheng are drinking and drinking, so let them go back after drinking and eating. When Di Gong returned to the state office, he asked the jailer, "What did you find from Pan Feng?" The jailer said: "He is empty-handed, only a few taels of silver." "Have you seen a skin?" "No." Di Gong nodded and ordered the jailer to lead him to the prison. The prison door was opened, and Di Gong saw that Pan Feng had already used the shackles. He was old, with gray temples, his head was bowed as if he was complaining about himself, and there was a new wound on his left cheek. Pan Feng glanced at Di Gong, sighed, and lowered his head again, but remained silent. Di Gong asked: "Pan Feng, are you guilty?" Pan Feng raised his eyes to look at Di Gong, and murmured: "I already guessed what happened, it must be Ye Tai who went to the Yamen to falsely accuse me. He always pestered me to borrow money, but I refused him, and he held a grudge." In my heart. I just wonder what did he falsely accuse me in court?" Di Gongdao: "The trial of the lawsuit will be held in court tomorrow. At this moment, I just want to ask you a question. Have you had any quarrels with your wife recently? Or have you had an awkward situation? What's wrong?" Pan Feng complained, and said: "It seems that she also participated in the false accusation against me. No wonder she looks flustered and sneaky recently, but she was discussing with Ye Tai every day to find—" Di Gong felt that Pan Feng really Unlike a murderer, he waved his hand to stop Pan Feng's words, and ordered the prison to lock the door.